Looking for Positives… Well, at least Brandon Ingram has looked pretty good with the move into the starting lineup in the last two. Whether it’s playing with a more passing friendly lineup—or just the ups and downs of a rookie—Laker fans could at least enjoy seeing more of his potential out there. Not much else positive in this one.

It was a sloppy, turnover-prone game from the Lakers again and even poorer exhibition of defense.

The Lakers lost this one in the third quarter. A 10-point Piston lead doubled to 21 immediately after the second unit came in and just like that the game was out of reach. The Pistons shot 71% that quarter, scoring 22 points in the paint as the Laker D failed to get stops.

Luke wasn’t happy with how they executed the game plan. They were supposed to protect the paint and give up the threes. They did the opposite and fell 121-102 to the Pistons.

“We weren’t ready tonight,” Luke said. They rarely are.

The tank rolls steadily along again.

Russell -- -- “He looked a little tired. Even in the shoot around, he looked tired,” Luke said. He’s been really looking to pass first, second and third, and then shoot lately. Only 2 FGAs in this game. In fact, there was a discontinued dribbled in the first half that really displayed that he wasn’t looking for his shot as the D took away the passing lane and he had room to score but wasn’t thinking that way. He was passing a lot more than the 5 assists show and the numbers would have also been higher but his minutes were kept low. He needs to be more aggressive with the shot, and I’d also like some of his teammates to look for him a bit more off ball, but that isn’t happening. Maybe run some set plays for him in that regard. “I was trying to make the right play offensively,” Russell said. But he wasn’t even taking jumpers when guys would go under the screen. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting to go with 1 board, 5 assists, 3 turnovers, 1 steal and no fouls in 23 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He found Ingram open in transition for a three. He was called for a discontinued dribble, turnover. Aggressive paint attack in early offense to draw the D and he found Deng for the open three. He hit Ingram open for a dunk under the hoop off an inbounds pass. He sank a wing jumper coming off a screen. He missed a wing jumper. He attacked and hit Nick in the corner for a three. Second Half: He tried to thread the needle in transition instead of go over the D and it was picked off.

Randle -- -- Good job going to his right and trusting his right hand on the finishes tonight. I’m betting he hasn’t had a game where he’s finished more with his right hand in his NBA career. This was a quiet, efficient 17 points from him. The kind of games that you’d expect more of as a vet a few years from now. Just going about his work on that end of the floor and finding ways to score. Defensively, not the engaged, active effort we saw in the last game…which makes me think he was more locked in last time out because he had to cover Melo and Porzingis (versus playing with Black and being mobile). The Stats: He scored 17 points on 7-13 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 1 assist, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He hit a 10-foot hook across the lane up against the shotclock. He missed a short bank. Poor angle recovery on D to give up a layup, then he had an inbounds violation on a lazy pass to give up another possession. He attacked past his man to his right and scored the righty layup. He was stripped in transition by Drummond. He couldn’t power up a layup over his man after working the post. He drew FTs creating against the shotclock, he made one. Nice challenge on a drive to force a miss. Second Half: Poor defensive awareness and he gave up a dunk. He scored a righty layup off the roll. He missed a hook across the lane. He sank a wing jumper. His man went for a steal on the pass, Randle attacked and muscled in the And-1 layup, he made the FT. He attacked to his right and hit the And-1 fade, he made the FT. He missed a turnaround in the paint. He scored a rightly layup filling the lane on the break. He rejected a man under the hoop to get a stop.

Ingram -- -- Hot shooting start for Ingram, scoring 8 of the Lakers first 10 and forcing a timeout. He had good open looks, wasn’t rushed and knocked them down. He sank three from behind the three line tonight, which is more like the Ingram we saw at Duke. It seemed like this would be the game he hit the 20-point mark after that but it didn’t happen. Luke thought he got lost being the low man defensively to help on the rolls. He did have a nice play in transition D as the only man back blocking a shot, but he was called for a bogus foul (offensive player actually grabbed Ingram’s arm). “I didn’t see much of a foul at all there,” Luke said. He’ll develop a rep as a defender, I’m sure, but that was some rookie treatment there. Some good ball movement and finding teammates for scores (he tied for team high with the 5 assists). The 3 turnovers were the result of twice stepping on the sideline and just one on a telegraphed pass. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 6-10 shooting (3-4 from three) to go with 4 boards, 5 assists, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He sank a sideline three on a kickout. He sank a pull-up 17-footer in early offense, working off the Black screen. He drained an open three in transition when Russell found him. He dunked on the inbounds pass from Russell. He crossed over and hit Black with the pocket pass for the slam. He missed a tough pull-up trying to beat the shotclock. He had 10 points on 4-5 shooting. Second Half: He stepped on the sideline, turnover. He told Russell to clear out, iso’d and hit the turnaround jumper. He telegraphed a kickout and it was picked off easily. Perfect outlet to Tarik, just over the reach of the defenders for a dunk. He was blocked out of bounds on a drive. He gave up a dunk expecting Randle to ice when he didn’t. He missed a drive, Tarik battled for he miss and found him for the corner three. Out of bounds when a pass came, turnover. He was forced into a bad three trying to beat the shotclock on a kickout, he missed.

Black – -- Some nice chemistry with Black and Ingram tonight. Black found Ingram off of offensive boards for threes on a couple of plays. Ingram returned the favor with a nice pocket pass to Black for a big slam. I can’t get too high off the Randle/Black duo last game defensively nor too low off this one. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-9 shooting to go with 10 boards (3 offensive), 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 1 block and 3 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He battled for an offensive board and kicked out to Ingram for three. Nice weakside cut, but he was blocked on the layup. He faced up and went around his man for a layup. He slammed off the two-man game with Ingram. He hustled to block a dunk. Second Half: He fumbled a pass, recovered it and scored the layup. He was stripped on a face-up for a dunk the other way. He missed a dunk off the two-man game, come on, Tarik. He airballed a jumphook. He dunked on the outlet from Ingram after beating everyone down court. He missed a jumphook, got it back and missed again. Another offensive board to lead to an Ingram three.

Young -- -- He was chucking a bit too much from the start in this one. I much prefer him catching and shooting rather than taking a pass and ball stopping some to then try to create a look. A little more ball movement would have gone a long way and maybe helped Russell get some looks himself, although Nick didn’t take any shots in the second half. “Hopefully, we got this one out of our system and we go out and play hard on Friday,” Nick said. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-9 shooting (1-4 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 turnover, 1 steal and 4 fouls in 19:37. He was a -2. The Action: He hit a 10-foot runner in the lane. He swished a wing pull-up on iso. He missed a three off the kickback. He was called for a travel after pumpfaking. He clanked a three after a fly by. He was fouled on a pull-up jumper and made one. Airball on a three. He knocked down a corner three on the Russell kickout. He missed a wing jumper off a screen. He made a tech FT. Wild chuck in transition and he missed. He had 9 points on 3-9 shooting. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Clarkson -- -- I hate seeing the no assists from Clarkson and just 2 from Williams. Neither was shooting very well, although they did combine for 15-16 from the freethrow line which is strong from your bench. That was about the only good part of their game, however. It also seemed like the combined 4 steals they got also came right before or after turnovers. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 3-10 shooting (0-3 from three, 6-7 from the line) to go with 1 board, 3 turnovers, 2 steals and 3 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a -22. The Action: He missed Nance rolling and then missed the pull-up jumper. He turned it over next time down trying to create off the dribble. He attacked the paint and charged. He attacked to his right and drew FTs, he made one. He missed a floater, but stole it back shortly later for the layup. He missed a drive at the end of the quarter. Second Half: Bad pass off the two-man game, too off the mark and hot for Randle to hold. He was hit a wing three, he made all three FTs. He swished a wing jumper working off the Nance screen. He missed a forced wing jumper. He missed a wing three at the end of the quarter. He missed a wing three to start the next quarter. He drew FTs in transition (lucky he didn’t get called for the charge), he made both. He clanked an open three. He iso’d and hit the jumphook over his man.

Williams – -- He and Clarkson were a combined 0-8 from three, Lou missing all five of his attempts. The perimeter shot wasn’t there and the Lakers started to fade as they couldn’t get stops. Lou is crafty enough that he can get 9 FTAs when he’s not shooting well in a game. He’s shooting 88% from the line this season and has made 65 of his last 68 FTAs. I would have preferred to see the young guys get a little more of his minutes later in this game as it was clear we were done. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 4-10 shooting (0-5 from three, 9-9 from the line) to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 2 turnovers, 2 steals and 2 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -21. The Action: He found Nance for the short baseline jumper. He setup Zu for FTs on a drive and dish. He drew contact on the perimeter and chucked it up to get FTs, he made both. He got the perimeter reach to draw three FTs, he made all three. His pass was picked off but he stole it back. He split a double and hit the floater over the helping big. He missed a short runner in transition. Way short on a deep three. Second Half: He attacked and drew FTs, he made both. He attacked to his left and flipped in the lefty layup over the D. He missed a wing three. He missed the two-for-one three. He hit a floater off the weave. He hit a pull-up in the lane. He missed a sideline three. He drew FTs on a jumper, he made both. He swiped a pass, then gave it right back.

Deng -- -- Barely could tell he was out there. If it wasn’t for swishing his first shot from three, you probably wouldn’t have noticed. He had a couple moments on D, as well, but was pretty ghostly. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-5 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 3 boards and 1 foul in 21 minutes. He was a -22. The Action: He swished a three on a kickout from Russell. He airballed a wide open three. He missed an open sideline three. Second Half: He missed a corner three on a kickout. He missed a long pull-up jumper.

Nance -- -- He said Luke’s message was that the whole game was unacceptable, both sides of the court. “We should and can play like we did in New York,” Nance said, mentioning that the last game they gave a 48-minute effort. Nance said it was about 10 minutes tonight. Nance wasn’t very effective tonight. He had a highlight putback dunk but he wasn’t disruptive on D at all. The Pistons were disrupting him as he had 3 turnovers. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-5 shooting to go with 7 boards, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 19 minutes. He was a -14. The Action: Turnover on a cross-court pass. He hit the short baseline jumper when Lou found him. He was stripped in the paint. He missed a floater in the middle of the paint. He got lost on D and his man got an easy dunk. Poor pass not letting Deng get setup in the paint and the defender swiped it easily fronting him. He threw down a putback jam from behind Drummond at the end of the half. Second Half: He missed the short floater. He made a floater off the pocket pass from Huertas. He gave up an offensive board and score.

Zubac -- -- Not a good game from him as he wasn’t particularly sharp on either end of the floor. At least not until garbage time. He didn’t look active on defense, wasn’t challenging, was planted on the floor and even slow in transition. “We didn’t come to play and this happens,” Zubac said. I like that late in the game, they ran the little inverse play they usually run for Mozgov and Zubac swished the 18-footer. That was called specifically for him in the timeout. I was hoping to see them set him up for something like that earlier in the game versus trying to score tricky floaters over the Pistons bigs. That could have opened things up for him and maybe even sparked his D a little more. Glad to see him get these minutes instead of Mozgov right now. It will only help the team in the future. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-5 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 2 blocks and no fouls in 21:33. He was a -17. The Action: He disrupted a lob pass a few seconds after entering. He was fouled on a lefty layup for FTs, he made one. He missed a 11-foot floater. He hit a jumphook in the lane. He was blocked on a layup attempt. He was blocked on a floater. Second Half: He got lost in transition, letting his man blow past him, take a pass and dunk. He recovered to reject his man. He swished the 18-footer off the inverse play. He blocked a drive on help D.

Huertas -- -- He got in to start the fourth to see if he could change things for the Lakers. Nope. Somehow he was seemingly more aggressive than Clarkson looking for shots, finish with 8 attempts in that quarter. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-8 shooting (1-3 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 1 fouls in 12 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He missed a wing three. He set up Nance for the floater. He forced a turnover, deflecting a pass. He swished a wing three on a kickout. He missed the runner off the nice Zubac screen. He was clobbered on a short And-1 jumper in the paint, he made the FT. He missed a short baseline jumper. He missed a drive off glass. He reversed off a long, quick inbounds. He airballed a three to end the game.

Calderon -- -- Garbage time minutes for him against his old team. He had a couple of assists but really wasn’t doing much out there. His best play was stealing a pass. I would have liked to see Russell get these minutes, but I think because Luke thought he looked fatigued he sat him. The Stats: He didn’t score or shoot and had 1 board, 2 assists, 1 steal and no fouls in 5:28. He was a +7. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He swiped a pass.

Walton -- -- Early timeout for the Pistons when Ingram was burying wide open threes and jumpers to give the Lakers a 10-4 lead… Ingram out with his second foul for Deng midway through the quarter, Lakers up 3… Zubac in for Black, Clarkson for Russell, and Nance in for Randle, Lakers up 3 with 3+ minutes left… Lakers up 4 when Lou came in for Nick with 2 minutes left… The Lakers had 8 turnovers in the first quarter, but were fortunate to only give up 2 points off those… They were tied 25-25 after the first… The Lakers fell back by 5 points midway through the second quarter before he went to Randle, Russell and Ingram for Deng, Clarkson and Nance… Down 9 when Black came in for Zubac… Young in for Lou, Lakers down 7 with 4 minutes left… The Lakers trailed 56-50 at the half. The Lakers had 12 turnovers, but only gave up 4 points on the break… Lakers trailed by 10 midway through the quarter when Ingram sat for Deng, Black for Zubac, Clarkson for Young… The lead quickly ballooned to 16 and Luke called a timeout… Nance and Lou in for Russell and Randle out of that… Luke went off on the refs and picked up a tech… They trailed 92-70 heading into the fourth… Huertas in for Zubac as we moved Nance to the C spot… Lakers down 24 when Ingram came back in for Deng at the PF with 7:28 left… Nance out for Randle… Calderon in, Zubac back in (good to see even if he wasn’t playing well), Lakers down 26…

"He looked a little tired..."?! Say whet?!?! I'm in my 40s I'm still not tired I'm still at my computer working right now and I'm not on a multi million dollar contract. He better get UNtired. Seriously I love DLO but the Excuse-o-tron 2000 needs to stop. That game was wack.